\______________/ The information contained in this file is strictly for academic usealone. Outlaw Labs will bear no responsibility for any use otherwise. Itwould be wise to note that the personnel who design and construct thesedevices are skilled physicists and are more knowledgeable in these mattersthan any layperson can ever hope to be... Should a layperson attempt tobuild a device such as this, chances are s/he would probably kill his/herselfnot by a nuclear detonation, but rather through radiation exposure. We hereat Outlaw Labs do not recommend using this file beyond the realm of casual oracademic curiosity.

I. The History of the Atomic Bomb ------------------------------ On August 2nd 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, AlbertEinstein wrote to then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein and severalother scientists told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify U-235with which might in turn be used to build an atomic bomb. It was shortlythereafter that the United States Government began the serious undertakingknown only then as the Manhattan Project. Simply put, the Manhattan Projectwas committed to expedient research and production that would produce a viableatomic bomb. The most complicated issue to be addressed was the production of ampleamounts of `enriched' uranium to sustain a chain reaction. At the time,Uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio of conversion fromUranium ore to Uranium metal is 500:1. An additional drawback is that the 1part of Uranium that is finally refined from the ore consists of over 99%Uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make it evenmore difficult, U-235 and U-238 are precisely similar in their chemicalmakeup. This proved to be as much of a challenge as separating a solution ofsucrose from a solution of glucose. No ordinary chemical extraction couldseparate the two isotopes. Only mechanical methods could effectively separateU-235 from U-238. Several scientists at Columbia University managed to solvethis dilemma. A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was constructed at Oak Ridge,Tennessee. H.C. Urey, along with his associates and colleagues at ColumbiaUniversity, devised a system that worked on the principle of gaseousdiffusion. Following this process, Ernest O. Lawrence (inventor of theCyclotron) at the University of California in Berkeley implemented a processinvolving magnetic separation of the two isotopes. Following the first two processes, a gas centrifuge was used to furtherseparate the lighter U-235 from the heavier non-fissionable U-238 by theirmass. Once all of these procedures had been completed, all that needed to bedone was to put to the test the entire concept behind atomic fission. [Formore information on these procedures of refining Uranium, see Section 3.] Over the course of six years, ranging from 1939 to 1945, more than 2billion dollars were spent on the Manhattan Project. The formulas forrefining Uranium and putting together a working bomb were created and seen totheir logical ends by some of the greatest minds of our time. Among thesepeople who unleashed the power of the atomic bomb was J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was the major force behind the Manhattan Project. Heliterally ran the show and saw to it that all of the great minds working onthis project made their brainstorms work. He oversaw the entire project fromits conception to its completion. Finally the day came when all at Los Alamos would find out whether or notThe Gadget (code-named as such during its development) was either going to bethe colossal dud of the century or perhaps end the war. It all came down toa fateful morning of midsummer, 1945. At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on July 16th, 1945, in a white blaze thatstretched from the basin of the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico to thestill-dark skies, The Gadget ushered in the Atomic Age. The light of theexplosion then turned orange as the atomic fireball began shooting upwards at360 feet per second, reddening and pulsing as it cooled. The characteristicmushroom cloud of radioactive vapor materialized at 30,000 feet. Beneath thecloud, all that remained of the soil at the blast site were fragments of jadegreen radioactive glass. ...All of this caused by the heat of the reaction. The brilliant light from the detonation pierced the early morning skieswith such intensity that residents from a faraway neighboring community wouldswear that the sun came up twice that day. Even more astonishing is that ablind girl saw the flash 120 miles away. Upon witnessing the explosion, reactions among the people who createdit were mixed. Isidor Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had beenupset -- as if humankind had become a threat to the world it inhabited.J. Robert Oppenheimer, though ecstatic about the success of the project,quoted a remembered fragment from Bhagavad Gita. "I am become Death," hesaid, "the destroyer of worlds." Ken Bainbridge, the test director, toldOppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches." Several participants, shortly after viewing the results, signed petitionsagainst loosing the monster they had created, but their protests fell on deafears. As it later turned out, the Jornada del Muerto of New Mexico was notthe last site on planet Earth to experience an atomic explosion. As many know, atomic bombs have been used only twice in warfare. Thefirst and foremost blast site of the atomic bomb is Hiroshima. A Uraniumbomb (which weighed in at over 4 & 1/2 tons) nicknamed "Little Boy" wasdropped on Hiroshima August 6th, 1945. The Aioi Bridge, one of 81 bridgesconnecting the seven-branched delta of the Ota River, was the aiming point ofthe bomb. Ground Zero was set at 1,980 feet. At 0815 hours, the bomb wasdropped from the Enola Gay. It missed by only 800 feet. At 0816 hours, inthe flash of an instant, 66,000 people were killed and 69,000 people wereinjured by a 10 kiloton atomic explosion. The point of total vaporization from the blast measured one half of amile in diameter. Total destruction ranged at one mile in diameter. Severeblast damage carried as far as two miles in diameter. At two and a halfmiles, everything flammable in the area burned. The remaining area of theblast zone was riddled with serious blazes that stretched out to the finaledge at a little over three miles in diameter. [See diagram below for blastranges from the atomic blast.] On August 9th 1945, Nagasaki fell to the same treatment as Hiroshima.Only this time, a Plutonium bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" was dropped on the city.Even though the "Fat Man" missed by over a mile and a half, it still levelednearly half the city. Nagasaki's population dropped in one split-second from422,000 to 383,000. 39,000 were killed, over 25,000 were injured. Thatblast was less than 10 kilotons as well. Estimates from physicists who havestudied each atomic explosion state that the bombs that were used had utilizedonly 1/10th of 1 percent of their respective explosive capabilities. While the mere explosion from an atomic bomb is deadly enough, itsdestructive ability doesn't stop there. Atomic fallout creates another hazardas well. The rain that follows any atomic detonation is laden withradioactive particles. Many survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blastssuccumbed to radiation poisoning due to this occurance. The atomic detonation also has the hidden lethal surprise of affectingthe future generations of those who live through it. Leukemia is among thegreatest of afflictions that are passed on to the offspring of survivors. While the main purpose behind the atomic bomb is obvious, there are manyby-products that have been brought into consideration in the use of allweapons atomic. With one small atomic bomb, a massive area's communications,travel and machinery will grind to a dead halt due to the EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) that is radiated from a high-altitude atomic detonation.These high-level detonations are hardly lethal, yet they deliver a seriousenough EMP to scramble any and all things electronic ranging from copper wiresall the way up to a computer's CPU within a 50 mile radius. At one time, during the early days of The Atomic Age, it was a popularnotion that one day atomic bombs would one day be used in mining operationsand perhaps aid in the construction of another Panama Canal. Needless to say,it never came about. Instead, the military applications of atomic destructionincreased. Atomic tests off of the Bikini Atoll and several other sites werecommon up until the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was introduced. Photos of nucleartest sites here in the United States can be obtained through the Freedom ofInformation Act. ============================================================================ - Breakdown of the Atomic Bomb's Blast Zones - ----------------------------------------------

There are 2 types of atomic explosions that can be facilitated by U-235;fission and fusion. Fission, simply put, is a nuclear reaction in which anatomic nucleus splits into fragments, usually two fragments of comparablemass, with the evolution of approximately 100 million to several hundredmillion volts of energy. This energy is expelled explosively and violently inthe atomic bomb. A fusion reaction is invariably started with a fissionreaction, but unlike the fission reaction, the fusion (Hydrogen) bomb derivesits power from the fusing of nuclei of various hydrogen isotopes in theformation of helium nuclei. Being that the bomb in this file is strictlyatomic, the other aspects of the Hydrogen Bomb will be set aside for now. The massive power behind the reaction in an atomic bomb arises from theforces that hold the atom together. These forces are akin to, but not quitethe same as, magnetism. Atoms are comprised of three sub-atomic particles. Protons and neutronscluster together to form the nucleus (central mass) of the atom while theelectrons orbit the nucleus much like planets around a sun. It is theseparticles that determine the stability of the atom. Most natural elements have very stable atoms which are impossible tosplit except by bombardment by particle accelerators. For all practicalpurposes, the one true element whose atoms can be split comparatively easilyis the metal Uranium. Uranium's atoms are unusually large, henceforth, it ishard for them to hold together firmly. This makes Uranium-235 an exceptionalcandidate for nuclear fission. Uranium is a heavy metal, heavier than gold, and not only does it havethe largest atoms of any natural element, the atoms that comprise Uranium havefar more neutrons than protons. This does not enhance their capacity tosplit, but it does have an important bearing on their capacity to facilitatean explosion. There are two isotopes of Uranium. Natural Uranium consists mostly ofisotope U-238, which has 92 protons and 146 neutrons (92+146=238). Mixed withthis isotope, one will find a 0.6% accumulation of U-235, which has only 143neutrons. This isotope, unlike U-238, has atoms that can be split, thus it istermed "fissionable" and useful in making atomic bombs. Being that U-238 isneutron-heavy, it reflects neutrons, rather than absorbing them like itsbrother isotope, U-235. (U-238 serves no function in an atomic reaction, butits properties provide an excellent shield for the U-235 in a constructed bombas a neutron reflector. This helps prevent an accidental chain reactionbetween the larger U-235 mass and its `bullet' counterpart within the bomb.Also note that while U-238 cannot facilitate a chain-reaction, it can beneutron-saturated to produce Plutonium (Pu-239). Plutonium is fissionable andcan be used in place of Uranium-235 {albeit, with a different model ofdetonator} in an atomic bomb. [See Sections 3 & 4 of this file.]) Both isotopes of Uranium are naturally radioactive. Their bulky atomsdisintegrate over a period of time. Given enough time, (over 100,000 years ormore) Uranium will eventually lose so many particles that it will turn intothe metal lead. However, this process can be accelerated. This process isknown as the chain reaction. Instead of disintegrating slowly, the atoms areforcibly split by neutrons forcing their way into the nucleus. A U-235 atomis so unstable that a blow from a single neutron is enough to split it andhenceforth bring on a chain reaction. This can happen even when a criticalmass is present. When this chain reaction occurs, the Uranium atom splitsinto two smaller atoms of different elements, such as Barium and Krypton. When a U-235 atom splits, it gives off energy in the form of heat andGamma radiation, which is the most powerful form of radioactivity and the mostlethal. When this reaction occurs, the split atom will also give off two orthree of its `spare' neutrons, which are not needed to make either Barium orKrypton. These spare neutrons fly out with sufficient force to split otheratoms they come in contact with. [See chart below] In theory, it isnecessary to split only one U-235 atom, and the neutrons from this will splitother atoms, which will split more...so on and so forth. This progressiondoes not take place arithmetically, but geometrically. All of this willhappen within a millionth of a second. The minimum amount to start a chain reaction as described above is knownas SuperCritical Mass. The actual mass needed to facilitate this chainreaction depends upon the purity of the material, but for pure U-235, it is110 pounds (50 kilograms), but no Uranium is never quite pure, so in realitymore will be needed. Uranium is not the only material used for making atomic bombs. Anothermaterial is the element Plutonium, in its isotope Pu-239. Plutonium is notfound naturally (except in minute traces) and is always made from Uranium.The only way to produce Plutonium from Uranium is to process U-238 through anuclear reactor. After a period of time, the intense radioactivity causes themetal to pick up extra particles, so that more and more of its atoms turn intoPlutonium. Plutonium will not start a fast chain reaction by itself, but thisdifficulty is overcome by having a neutron source, a highly radioactivematerial that gives off neutrons faster than the Plutonium itself. In certaintypes of bombs, a mixture of the elements Beryllium and Polonium is used tobring about this reaction. Only a small piece is needed. The material is notfissionable in and of itself, but merely acts as a catalyst to the greaterreaction.